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The Hunt for Maintenance

I thought I would just give you an update on what’s currently going on with my training and nutrition. I’ve decided to increase my calories to try to actually learn what my maintenance calorie level is. I really have no idea what it is and I would really like to know! But the only way to actually know what it is is to kind of “hunt” for it.

How am I doing this? Well, every week I’m raising my calories by 100 and I leave it at that level for a week. If my weight doesn’t really increase (not that I could expect much to happen in a week) then I raise them again the following week by another 100 calories. Yes, you’re right. This sounds like the very slow and paranoid approach, and it is. Honestly, I could probably just start at 2000 calories and see what happens, but if my metabolism has been depressed in some way then my body might freak out a little by doing that. I’d rather take it slow and have this be a happy experience for my body and mind.

So far, after raising my calories some, I’m down 2-3 pounds… Happy experience! Haha! The picture below was taken a couple weeks into my “hunt for maintenance” experiment. It was about a week after this photo was taken that I weighed in at 133. I really don’t care what my weight is, it’s just how I measure what’s going on with my changes in calorie intake. Although, it’s fair to note that I’ve never weighed this much while being this lean. Yay for muscle!

135 lbs., 5’4

As far as training goes, I’m still doing an upper/lower split, but I’m using a different routine. It’s fun to change things up a little bit here and there. I haven’t done any standard cardio in months. I just make sure to keep my intensity high when lifting weights to keep my heart rate up. As you know, I like to keep structured cardio in my back pocket for when I really need it. I do walk my dog a lot though.

This week is a well-needed ‘deload’ week. I’m just doing two workouts this week and the weights are much, much lighter than normal. The exercises are also performed in a circuit with little rest. I kind of hate deload weeks though. They’re such a hit to the ego. I just want to lift heavy things!!!! But I have to tell myself that it’s the right thing to do…and next week when I get back to lifting heavy, I’ll probably be hittin’ some PRs.

Well, that’s all for now folks! I’ve got some big news coming up next time, so stay tuned! My life is about to get a little cray-cray again!

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5 thoughts on “The Hunt for Maintenance”

Hi! I just discovered your site and I like:) After going through your previous entries I really wanted to ask you how you shaped and lost your fat on your legs?! I have a 5 day split and lift pretty heavy myself, I do mostly hiit for cardio and follow a very low carb, high protein CLEAN diet!!!!!!! But alas my thighs and booty remain unphased as my abs and upper body look like yours. Any advice? I’m thinking it may be my diet by not sure how to change it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Stacy! I’m glad you like my blog! Thanks for reading! The ‘secret’ to leaning out your legs is really just going to consistency and patience. When you have the body type that tends to carry more fat in your hips and thighs it may be difficult to see with your eyes that you actually are losing fat on your legs. Think of fat as sheets of paper stacked on top of one another, but maybe you have more sheets on your legs. You’re probably losing sheets of paper all over, but it’ll just take longer to lose those extra sheets on your legs. Also, eating a “clean” diet and very low carb (which I don’t necessarily recommend), isn’t as important for fat loss as a caloric deficit. I find that I see the best results when I’m tracking my food and calories diligently! Stay patient and just keep going! Good things are bound to happen!

It really depends on how many calories I’m consuming at the time. I usually make sure I’m eating 1 gram of protein per pound bodyweight and I make sure I’m eating enough fats to keep me satiated and to keep my hormones in check, then I fill in the rest with carbs. I definitely eat over 100g of carbs a day, especially if I’m not focusing on fat loss per se. I also follow the concept of “if it fits your macros” and I’m not following a strict diet plan at the moment. My meals differ from day to day but I just track my calories and macros as I go through the day. It’s just a more flexible way of eating. But I mostly eat typical “healthy” and “clean” foods.

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